Spirituality & Religious StudiesXibalba
Xibalba roughly translates to “place of fright.”
This is the K’iche’ (A Mayan language of the K’iche’ people of the central highlands of Guatemala & Mexico) named the Underworld in a Maya(n) mythology. The underworld is known as Mitnal in Yucatec, a Mayan language spoken in the Yucatan Peninsula.
In the 16th century, Verapaz, the entrance to Xibalba, was traditionally held to be a cave in the area of Cabon, Guatemala. Cave systems in nearby Belize have also been referred to as the entrance to Xibalba. In some Mayan areas, the Milky Way is viewed as the road to Xibalba.
Xibalba is described in the Popol Vuh (A text recounting the mythology & history of the K’iche’ people of Guatemala. This is 1 of the Maya peoples who also inhabit Mexican states) as a court below the surface of the earth associated with death & with 12 gods, or powerful rulers, known as the Lords of Xibalba.
The 1st among the Mayan death gods ruling Xibalba were: Hun-Came (“One Death”) & Vucub-Came (“Seven Death”). Though Hun-Came is the elder of the 2.
The remaining 10 Lords are often referred to as demons & are given commission & domain over diverse forms of human suffering: to cause sickness, starvation, fear, destitution, pain, & ultimately death.
These Lords work in pairs: Xiquiripat (“Flying Scab”) & Cuchumaquix (“Gathered Blood”), who sickens people’s blood. Ahalpuh (“Pus Demon”) & Ahalgana (“Jaundice Demon”), who cause people’s bodies to swell up. Chamiabac (“Bone Staff”) & Ahalttcob (“Stabbing Demon”), who hide in the unswept areas of people’s homes & stab them to death. Xic (“Wing”) & Patan (“Pack strap”), who cause people to die coughing up blood while out walking on a road.
The remaining residents of Xibalba are thought to have fallen under the dominion of 1 of these Lords, going about the face of the Earth to carry out their listed duties.
Xibalba was a large palace, & several individual structures located within Xibalba are described or mentioned in the Popol Vuh. Chief among these was the council place of the Lords, the 5 or 6 houses that served as the 1st tests of Xibalba, & the Xibalba ball court. Also mentioned are the homes of the Lords, gardens, & other structures, indicating that Xibalba was at least a great city.
Xibalba seems to be rife with tests, trials, & traps for anyone who comes into the city. Even the roads to Xibalba were filled with obstacles: 1st, a river filled with scorpions, a river filled with blood, & then a river filled with pus.
Beyond these was a crossroads where travellers had to choose from among 4 roads that spoke in an attempt to confuse & beguile. Upon passing these obstacles, 1 would come upon the Xibalba council place where it was expected visitors would greet the seated Lords.
Realistic mannequins were seated near the Lords to confuse & humiliate people who greeted them, & the confused would then be invited to sit up on a bench, which was actually a hot cooking surface. The Lords of Xibalba would entertain themselves by humiliating people in this fashion before sending them into 1 of Xibalba’s deadly tests.
The city was home to at least 6 deadly houses filled with trials for visitors. The 1st was the Dark House, a house that was completely dark inside. The 2nd was the Rattling House/Cold House, full of bone-chilling cold & rattling hail. The 3rd was the Jaguar House, filled with hungry jaguars. Tht 4th was the Bat House, filled with dangerous shrieking bats. The 5th was the Razor House, filled with blades & razors that moved about of their own accord. In another part of the Popol Vuh, a 6th test, the Hot House, was filled with fires & heat, is identified. The purpose of these trials/tests was to either kill or humiliate people placed into them if they couldn’t outwit the test.
Xibalba was home of a famous ballcourt in which the heroes of the Popol Vuh succumbed to the trickery of the demons in the form of a deadly, bladed ball, as well as the site in which the Mayan Hero Twins outwitted the gods & brought about their downfall.
According to the Popol Vuh, the residents of Xibalba at 1 point enjoyed the worship of the people on the surface of the Earth who offered human sacrifice to the gods of death.
Over the span of time covered in the Popol Vuh, the gods of Xibalba are tricked & finally humiliated into accepting lesser offerings from above by the Maya Twins, who got superpowers after they were burnt & their ashes thrown into a magical river.
The role of Xibalba & its inhabitants after their great defeat at the hands of the Hero Twins is unclear. Although it seems to have continued its existence a dark place of the underworld long after.
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